Companies face more litigation than they did two years ago

A new survey by business consultancy Alix Partners indicates that companies may be facing more litigation than they have in the past two years.

The report, which asked corporate legal officers about their companies’ legal disputes, said 35 percent of GCs reported that their clients were involved in more legal disputes than they were in the previous 12 months. Only 7 percent of respondents said they had seen the number of legal disputes drop.

Other key findings from the report include:

Almost all the more than 100 companies surveyed were involved in contract disputes with other companies.

More than 50 percent of respondents reported being involved in intellectual property cases—most dealing with other companies.

10 percent of companies said they were currently dealing with bet-the-company litigation.

With GCs increasingly unsatisfied with law firm rates, more legal departments are employing new ways to deal with the high cost of litigation, including alternative fee arrangements and bringing more work in-house.